ML20136E478

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Forwards NRC Press Release, Fox Announces Senior Nuclear Appointments, from Uranium Nuclear News Daily Special Edition,
ML20136E478
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Site: Millstone, Nine Mile Point, Arkansas Nuclear, Seabrook  Constellation icon.png
Issue date: 01/23/1997
From: Blanch P
AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To: Mulley G, Zwolinski J
NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned), NRC OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG)
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NUDOCS 9703130217
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?O From PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>

To WND2. WNP3 ( j &z) , TWD1. TWP4 (gam)

Dates 1/23/97 6:00am Subjects News l

U Nuclear News Daily Special Edition A Nuclear Communications.

Publication' Wednesday, January-22, 1997 (NOTE: NU is issuing the following press release this morning.)

l l Fox Announces Senior Nuclear Appointments l

Bernard M. Fox, Chairman, President and CEO of Northeast Utilities, = today announced the appointment of Neil S. Buzz '

Carns as Senior Vice = ,

i . President and l Chief Nuclear Officer -Millstone. Carns will report directly to

Bruce D.

l Kenyon, President and CEO of Northeast Nuclear Group. He will assume = his duties at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station on February 3, 1997. =

Fox also announced the appointment of Michael H. Brothers as the Recovery =

Officer for Millstone Unit 3. In his position of Vice President -Millstone l Unit =

3, Brothers will report directly to Carns and he will assume full =

responsibility for the unit in early February. .

I am pleased to welcome Buzz as he joins with Bruce Kenyon and his =

Recovery Officers as they move aggressively through their readiness for =

restart process, stated Fox. He continued,- Equally exciting is the appointment of =

Mike Brothers. He will replace John Paul Cowan and head up the recovery = and restart efforts for Unit 3. Carns will leave Wolf Creek Nuclear' Operating Corporation, =

.Burlington, Kansas, after over three years as Chairman, President and CEO. He previously = served as Vice President, Nuclear Generation for Niagara Mohawk Power =

Corporation at.their Nine Mile Point Nuclear Site in New York State. Prior to:= joining Niagara Mohawk, Carns was Site Vice President of Arkansas Nuclear One in

=

Russellville, Arkansas. A former Captain in the U. S. Navy Nuclear Program, Carns is a = graduate of the U.S. Naval 2 Academy at Annapolis with a Bachelor's Degree in =

9703130217 970306 PDR ORG NRRA PDR

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l Engineering. He-also earned a, Master's Degree in Public j Administration from the = 1 l University of l Washington. . '

i

! Brothers is currently Unit Director for Millstone Unit 3, and has

= served in that position since 1994. Prior to becoming Unit Director, he was = 1 Operations l l Manager-for Millstone Unit 3. Brothers served at Connecticut.

! Yankee = for over seven years, beginning as an engineer and working up through the = ranks to l Operations Manager' in 1993. .

A veteran of five years in the U.S. Navy-Nuclear Program as a = 1 l

Lieutenant, l Brothers earned'a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Physics from the =

L . University of Oklahoma, and a Master's Degree in Computer Science l from tho =-

Harvard '

l Graduate Center.

(Continued on reverse) ~

L Kenyon. stated that the addition of Carns to the Millstone team allows =

Ted Feigenbaum, Executive ~Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer l for =

Seabrook and l Connecticut Yankee, to fully focus his efforts on those sites.-

! =

l Feigenbaum will resume his normal work location at the Seabrook Station and = continue to report directly to Kenyon regarding all Seabrook and Connecticut =

Yankee issues.

l As CNO for Millstone, Carns will oversee the three Unit Recovery l

Officers, Vice President -Nuclear Work Services, and the Vice. President =

-Engineering, and be directly responsible for the full scope of

operations at the site.

, The additional oversight and operations and management expertise

! = that Buzz

! Carns will bring with him into the organization will allow me to

= focus clearly and consistently on the overall efforts of the l Millstone restart = process, and the raising of standards for the entire Northeast Nuclear Group, = stated Kenyon. Kenyon emphasized that the addition of Carns to the senior = nuclear group management will support his commitment to '

safety and creating a = work atmosphere that supports employees and encourages ownership and = accountability.

He added that he is pleased that Mike Brothers will be the first =

Northeast j Unit Officer. Mike's contributions to safety and excellence i

.- .- _ _- ._ . . = . .. .. - .

9Ok I

will = continue to benefit Milletone as we move closer to readiness to restart, stated =

Kenyon.

Brothers will work with John Paul Cowan, current Unit 3 Recovery Officer on loan from Carolina Power and Light (CP&L), to begin the transition = from the CP&L recovery team to the first new Northeast Nuclear team. I am

grateful to John Paul and to CP&L for their contribution to the foundation being = laid for the recovery at Millstone, and wish him every success in his new = position stated Kenyon. He continued, Good management practices tell us that = our unit management transitions must be done one at a time. I am optimistic = that the PECO (Unit 1) and VEPCO (Unit 2) teams, and a few key members of the

CP&L team (Unit 3) will continue to support us through to startup. ###

Subject:

SONGS SITE Sent: 1/23/97 6:25 AM Received: 1/23/97 8:13 AM From: GLEN MILLS, MILLSGLEN0msn.com To: PAUL BLANCH, PMBLANCH0ix.netcom.com CC: diochbaum@ucsusa.org Mail: P.O. Box 3393, Mission Viejo, CA 92690 Phone #: 714-768-0585 FAX: 714-458-6455 E-Mail: millsglen@msn.com January 20, 1997 The Honorable Shirley Jackson Chairperson U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Re: Nuclear Safety Concern, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS)

Dear Chairperson Jackson:

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) site has changed = greatly since the initial conception of SONGS.

Interstate 5 (known as the San =

Diego Freeway) is the only practical public access along the coast = connecting the heavily populated Orange and San Diego Counties. The Freeway runs = through the SONGS site and divides it into what is known as the =ECocean side =EE = and the

! =ECMesa=EE. Unlike the 1960=EDs and early to mid 1970=EDs, the =

l Freeway carries many commuters between the employment centers of

,. - .. . . . ~ .. -

l

! Orange and San Diego =

counties. Traffic jams are now very, common with few places to exist the Freeway = in the' event of a major nuclear accident. A major seismic event could result = in both_ a major offsite release of radioactive material and structural damage = to the Freeway trapping rush hour commuters near SONGS. Remember that the =

Northridge quake caused much Freeway damage. The Marines have

! built major = housing developments in the area of the site in the last 10 years and more = are planned. The combination of increased commuter traffic and population = growth on Camp Pendleton, and in both south Orange County and north San =

i Diego County has us worried that the site may not be in compliance with its = original acceptance criteria (includes but i not limited to 10CFR100). To make = the situation worst, because I

of the lack of offsite storage and = reprocessing facilities, I the amount of spent fuel on site and the amount to be =

accumulated is far greater than ever anticipated. Further SONGS l is seeking longer = times (greater burnup) between refuelings-meaning greater fission product accumulations in spent fuel l assemblies discharged from the reactor.

Please verify that the NRC has stayed abreast of the changes in the =

SONGS site and can guarantee that all regulatory requirements are met and = evacuation of the population (including commuter traffic) in the area near SONGS = can be accomplished fully l protecting public health and safety.

In view of the greater population density and commuter traffic in the = area around SONGS, has Southern California Edison improved its nuclear = property damage and liability insurance policy to cover a nuclear disaster. =

our concern is based in part on the fact that we are residential property owners = within approximately 4 miles of the SONGS j site.

l L

l Thank you for any response provided to this nuclear safety concern.

Sincerely, Glen R. Mills S$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

=A0 Moody's May Downgrade Ratings of

Connecticut-Based Northeast Utilities l Source
The Boston Globe

, The Boston Globe via Knight-Ridder / Tribune via Individual Inc.

1 i

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l By Jerry Ackerman l Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News

_Jan. 22--Moody's Investors Service yesterday warned it may further = downgrade credit ratings of New England's largest electric utility, Connecticut-based Northeast =

Utilities and its Massachusetts and New

Hampshire subsidiaries.

The bond-rating agency acted after Northeast warned that it might = file for bankruptcy if it doesn't get its way in a New Hampshire regulatory proceeding. Moody's also i i

said it = was concerned by Northeast's i announcement Monday that it faces higher losses than previously = anticipated for the last quarter of 1996.

Debt issued by Northeast Utilities and its two New Hampshire =

subsidiaries, Public Service Co. of New Hampshire and North Atlantic Energy Corp., which owns a major

= share of the Seabrook nuclear power plant, already are rated as below investment grade, or " junk"

, = bonds.

Moody's statement now threatens to accord the same status to

bonds = issued by two other subsidiaries, l Connecticut Light & Power Co. and Western Massachusetts l

Electric =

Co., Northeast spokesman Jeffrey R.

Kotkin said.

Analysts said they regarded Northeast's bankruptcy threat to J be = another round of brinksmanship in an l ongoing battle between the company and New Hampshire over

details = of proposals pending for l restructuring the electric utility industry.

l Along with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, New Hampshire is =

pursuing restructuring that would introduce competition for the sale of electricity as a way to

= reduce high customer rates.

Public Service's rates to householders ja New Hampshire now =

average 16 cents per kilowatt hour, higher,t in the nation.

But the. forecast of higher fourth-querter losses raised some =

caution about Northeast's operating finances as l its four nuclear reactors in Connecticut remain closed formuch l as =

25 percent during late fall and early winter before dropping somewhat earlier this month.

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The surge,'along with other factors, pushed total replacement

= power costs up to $110 million during the fourth quarter of last year from about $80 million during the

= second quarter, Northeast executiva vice president John H. Forsgren said.

Northeast and regulators in Connecticut and Maseschusetts already = have agreed that customers won't be charged for costs associated with the nuclear safety problems

-- = which means_that shareholders will, in the '

form of reduced earnings.

Northeast's board already has cut dividends to 25 cents per share from 44 cents previously, since the nuclear plants were shut down last March. During the last quarter of.

1995 =

Northeast earned $64.2 million, or'50 cents a share. Losses for the laitt quarter of 1996 are due to be = announced next week.

In addition to paying more for oil, the company said it expects.to = increast "significantly" its reserve to cover" operating and maintenance costs st the three Millstone =

nuclear reactors in Waterford, Conn.

Northeast hopes to get at least one Millstone unit operating i this = year and the other two running in 1998, l but needs federal permissions to do so. The company's fourth = i nuclear reactor, Connecticut Yankee, has been i permanently closed.

Also hurting 1996 earnings, the company said, was the cost of

restoring service to 350,000 customers after December's severe snow and ice storm in western Massachusetts and

Connecticut -- about:$25 million, of which $10 million was' covered by: insurance.

Barry E. Welch, utility. bonds analyst with John Hancock Mutual

=

Life Insurance Co., said Northeast has.

been able to raise enough working capital since the nuclear units = were closed "to weather a fairly long storm," political.and otherwise.

But there is cause to worry,.he'said, that New Hampshire's =

regulators or Legislature "may do something radical" that could cut Public Service's income. " Northeast does = get cash ~ flow from PSNH and it is important to them," Welch said.

Northeast's warnings about possible bankruptcy were made to the =

New Hamsphire Public Utilities

_. m. . _ . _ . - _- . _ _ . . . _ . _ _ _ . _ _ . _ _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ - _ _ _ _ . . _ _ _ . _

I.

i Commission, during hearings.on how much to let utilities charge = their customers to recover so-called l stranded costs after restructuring. c

" Stranded costs" describes money spent in the past on generating = plants or other-assets.that would not be able to. compete economically iffcustomers had other choices.

RegukatorsinMassachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, all = of which are trying to restructure.their

. respective electric utility industries as a way to reduce.

rates, =. agree.that utility companies should be able to recover most of those costs.

But.the proposal being considered in New Hampshire uses a =

different accounting methodology than those in the other states,-Kotkin said. Forsgren told New Hampshire = ,

regulators their plan could lead.to $700 million ,

in losses.'He said PSNH's common stock, held entirely by =

Northeast, is worth only $600 million.

  • f l ------

ON THE INTERNET: ,

Visit Boston.Com, the World Wide Web site of The Boston Globe, at = http://www. boston.com/ globe l -----

l (c) 1997, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight-Ridder / Tribune =

Business News.

NU, PNH,

[01-22-97.at 12:00 EST, Copyright 1997, Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News]

Contact:

The Boston Globe'

=AO NU, PSNH Hit By Stranded Cost Recovery Jitters

] Amid new stranded cost ..

4 I

Source: THE ENERGY DAILY l THE ENERGY DAILY via Individual Inc. : Moody's took that I

action in = the wake of a statement made last I l l

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=

week by a top NU executive that Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) could go bankrupt if it is forced to write off upward of $800 million in stranded = assets currently under review by the state's utility regulators.

The official, NU Chief Financial Officer John Forsgren, made those = remarks Friday in the context of a hearing held by the New Hampshire Public Utility Commission to

= determine an interim stranded cost l recovery charge for the utility.

The PUC, which already-has issued a preliminary restructuring

= plan, insists it will allow at least partial l recovery of stranded costs. 1 1

However, Moody's said-its NU credit review was prompted by =  !

concern over possible negative outcomes  ;

l should New Hampshire regulators adopt interim stranded cost =  ;

charges based on market rates.... i l

And Forsgren was not convinced about the PUC's intentions, l either.

l His concerns stem from a report released earlier this month by the =

L PUC's consultant, LaCapra Associates.

In its Jan. 3 report, LaCapra estimates the long-term and interim = stranded costs for each of the state's l utilities. The report does not address the percentage of stranded = costs which will be recovered by each utility. ,

However, at issue is Lacapra's use of a market-based methodology = to arrive at PSNH's stranded cost l l

charges. In-his testimony to the PUC, Forsgren said that if

  • the = commission adopts a market- based-

. methodology, rather than a traditional cost-based methodology, PSNH will be forced'to. write down'its stranded costs of between $700 and $800 million, because it will = no longer qualify under certain accounting standards.used by regulated utilities whose rates are set on the = traditional basis of a regulated cost of service.

1 i After that, Forsgren said, '5 bankruptcy of the company would be = inevitable.

(' Last week, Forsgren issued another statement, emphasizing that i his = remarks to the PUC were not meant as

! a threat, nor should [they] be viewed as posturing or an =

l exaggeration of the consequences of any decision

! that is based on the LaCapra report.

1 1 - - - . . - .

1 Others, however, such as E12en Lapson of Fitch Investors' Service, = are giving the report less weight.

Obviously...Forsgren believes the possibility that write downs = pursuant to the [Lacapra] report would result in bankruptcy, but we don't think bankruptcy is the only = alternative.... There could be an economic solution to the company's problems short of bankruptcy.

After = all, Lapson said, the consultant didn't say

'no recovery' of stranded costs, or that it [';he PUC] would not = give sufficient stranded cost recovery [to PSNH].

And if following the report's recommendations to the-letter would = in fact set PSNH up for bankruptcy, then ~

the PUC is not'likely.to follow them, she said. There will =

undoubtedly be some. stranded cost recovery...and some reasonable amount of rate reduction over =

transition period.

Given that, Lapson suggested that the PUC merely may be using the = report as a kind of bargaining stance. Sometimes a [ utility] commission may hire a consultant to = recommend a somewhat outrageous thing. I think that the consultant is busy creating one position = on behalf of the PUC while the utility concentrates on creating another position. The policy that =

emerges is likely to be somewhere in between, she said.

Asked about the LaCapra report and its potential impact on the

=

PUC's decision making, commission spokesman Tom Getz said that clearly, there will be recovery-of = stranded coats, it is just a question of what percentage.

Getz pointed out that utility restructuring legislation passed by = the New Hampshire legislature last year

requires that the commission balance near-term rate relief =

[while) ensur[ing] there are no severe financial hardship for utilities.

<<THE ENERGY DAILY -- 1\22\97>>

[01-22-97 at 18:00 EST, Copyright 1997, King Publishing Group)

Subject:

SPENT FUEL COVERAGE Sent: 1/23/97 6:17 AM Received: 1/23/9' 8:13 AM From: GLEN MILLS, MILLSGLEN@msn.com i

To: PAUL BLANCH, PMBLANCH@ix.netcom.com CC: dlochbaum@ucsusa.org

l

~

t l.

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! Mail:-P.O. Box 3393, Mission Viejo, CA 92690 l Phone #: 714-768-0585 FAX: 714-458-6455 l

E-Mail: millaglen9msn.com i

January 23: 1997 l

The Honorable Shirley Jackson l chairperson U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D;C. 20555-0001

! .Re: Nuclear ~ Safety Concern, San Onofre Nuclear

Generating Station (SONGS) l Reference 1
Letter dated December- 20, 1996,- from William H.

! Bateman

< of the NRC to Glen R. Mills (copy enclosed).

r

Dear Chairperson Jackson:

l l We are concerned residential property owners in south San-

j. Clemente = located as close as 4 miles from the San onofre i Nuclear Generating Station =

l (SONGS) site. You have rejected a previous request to build a L containment around = the spent fuel storage facilities similar to the reactor containment structure. Therefore we are now

' requesting that the NRC perform a radiological = study of the l offsite consequences of-fission product release from a spent fuel

= accident- due to both mishandling of the fuel and loss of coolant inventory in = the pool. Further justification for this l radiological study is provided by the = ineptness in managing l SONGS loss-of-coolant-accident dose calculations as = documented j in Reference 1. l Please provide a copy of NUREG 1353. This document has many short )

= comings and we need a copy for study and research.

Thank you for any response provided to this nuclear safety l concern.

l Sincerely, 4 Glen R. Mills i

i i

.- .,- - . , , - ,y ,-.s- . . _ - - , , ,

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